Accuracy: 5 m (16 ft)

Click on any of the images for the full-sized picture.

18-Dec-2005 -- Beth and I were on our way to Big Bend National Park in West Texas for our annual get-out-of-town Christmas celebration. Along the way we noted a fairly easy confluence at 31 N 105 W off of Interstate-10 near a railroad siding called Hot Wells, so we made plans to visit it.

From Sierra Blanca, we drove about 20 miles east along I-10 to the Hot Wells/Allamoore exit, and proceeded south about 4 miles along good dirt road to the railroad crossing, then went left onto a railroad right-of-way road, about another mile to a point south and west of the confluence. Beth was not feeling well and opted to sit this one out, so I went in alone for a quick hike into the Chihuahuan Desert scrubland.

I scooted underneath a barbed-wire fence and walked about 0.3 miles northeast to the confluence, finding it with no difficulty. I found a small rock pile left by the earlier visitors, but I zeroed my GPS near a bush about 4 feet south of their position. No big deal, I was there. I took the four photos and proceeded on out, a total time of about 15 minutes.

Photo 1 is a west view, with the earlier visitor's rock pile in view. I zeroed my GPS in the bush on the left. You might be able to see Sierra Blanca as a barely visible phantasm on the horizon toward the right. Photo 2 is looking south toward the Eagle Mountains, the third highest range in Texas after the Guadalupes and Davis Mountains. Photo 3 is looking east, and photo 4 is looking north at the low-lying Carrizo Hills. Photo 5 is my GPS, locked in.

From here we drove on to the Big Bend for an enjoyable week of hiking and exploring.

Take Exit 129 on I-10, and turn right (south) onto an unnamed road. Go 4.3 miles. Cross over railroad tracks and turn left onto an unnamed road that parallels the railroad tracks. Go 1.23 miles and stop. Walk 1590 feet due northeast to the confluence.